In the smartphone world, Xiaomi is the epitome of value for money. Now ranked fourth worldwide, it sells nearly one of every ten smartphones. But when companies start operating at such a large scale, the start-up mentality takes a backseat to more important considerations, and innovation can be stifled.

Oppo circumvented it with the "independent" OnePlus, Huawei spun off Honor for Western markets, and Xiaomi is taking an approach somewhere in the middle. Its Poco sub-brand is still under its umbrella and benefits from its resources, but has the advantage of an easily pronounceable name, some creative freedom, and room to fail without hurting Xiaomi's reputation.

We don't often discuss Xiaomi's software layer here on Android Police, but it isn't for lack of desire to. Most of our team lives in the US where Xiaomi doesn't officially operate and, even if we were to import units there, they wouldn't be compatible with most carriers' LTE bands. I'm based in Lebanon, and the first limitation applies here as well, but imported devices do work (we have LTE band 3), so I've been trying to get my hands on some of the companies' phones to test them out.

It's the fourth largest smartphone brand on the planet, and yet Xiaomi doesn't directly sell devices in some of the biggest markets such as the US and the UK. There have been rumors about an entry into the US market late this year or in early 2019, but before that, the Chinese company is officially launching in the UK on November 8th.

Xiaomi is looking to really flesh out the Mi 8 family. Joining the regularly-named one, the Explorer Edition, and the SE, the Chinese manufacturer announced the Mi 8 Lite and Pro. Yes, that means that we have five different versions now. But as always, both of these new phones pack insane value.

Xiaomi, to no one's surprise, unveiled the Mi 6X, a follow up to last year's Mi 5X. As is typical for the Chinese company, this phone packs an insane value with its solid specs and low price point. There is a huge focus on AI with this phone (shocker) and Xiaomi is touting up the camera performance. So, all in all, it's a pretty typical affair, but the Mi 6X looks like it'll be a winner.

After a lot of rumors, leaks, and speculation, Xiaomi has finally made the Mi Mix 2S official. A follow-up the to not-so-old Mi Mix 2, the 2S features a few upgrades such as a Snapdragon 845, dual cameras, Qi wireless charging, and more AI. It kept the global LTE band support and the nostril camera placement along the bottom bezel, as well as the same LCD as its predecessor.

Xiaomi devices consistently offer great hardware at low prices, but the company's MIUI skin isn't everyone's favorite. So when the Android One-powered Mi A1 debuted, it was met with heaps of praise. A couple of days ago, Xiaomi ran a poll on Twitter asking its followers whether they preferred MIUI or Android One. But due to a result deemed unsatisfactory by Xiaomi, the poll has mysteriously disappeared.

Xiaomi phones always have the same problem. While the company's devices have generally great specifications and design for the price, the software experience is usually not very good. If you've read one of our Xiaomidevicereviews, or used one of the company's phones yourself, you probably know what I'm talking about.

All of Xiaomi's phones and tablets ship with MIUI, a heavily modified version of Android that has countless problems. Some of these include Bluetooth connectivity bugs, terrible notification handling, and over-the-top power management that can outright break notifications for many apps. Jordan went in depth about MIUI's issues here, if you're interested in details.

In the shadow of the announcement for the handsome new Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi also introduced the Mi Note 3. It's essentially a Mi 6 with a larger 5.5" screen, and with a name like "Mi Note" there are no prizes for guessing which rival flagship it's intended to compete with. The Mi Note 3 also packs dual-cameras, which seems to be the device's key selling point. It has a regular 12MP sensor next to a telephoto lens.

If you have read one of our several reviews of Xiaomi phones, such as the Mi Note 2 and Mi 6, you'll know that the software experience just isn't good. MIUI is Xiaomi's heavily modified version of Android, complete with less-than-stellar RAM and Bluetooth management (among other issues). But the ROM has several major security problems, as found by research firm eScan.